1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to portable hand carts of the type having a lifting platform used for wheeling temporary loads from place to place on the floor/ground. More specifically, the invention relates to improved hand carts of this type having expanded capacity in the form of a trailing platform for transporting additional load material which may be more permanently associated with the cart.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wheeled, portable hand carts of generally L-shaped configuration have been well-known in the art for many years. Such carts conventionally have a pair of axially spaced-apart wheels attached to the body of the cart near the juncture of the long and the short legs of the L-shape.
The shorter leg of the “L” generally serves as a lifting platform that is placed on the ground or floor in horizontal alignment and then slipped under a movable load to lift it above the floor so that both the cart and the load which is cradled in the inner angle of the L-shape, may be wheeled from place to place. The longer leg of the conventional L-shape is substantially vertical when the lifting platform is horizontal, and serves as a lever/handle to facilitate tilting the lifting platform and pushing/steering the cart on its wheels.
However, the known design of such carts tends to restrict them to use with loads that are inherently temporary and that must be removed from the lifting platform to permit transporting of other loads on the same platform. This restriction in the number and size of loads that can be carried by carts of known design is particularly unacceptable for many applications in which a temporary load such as a receptacle drum or container must be used together with an ancillary portable load such as a pump or vacuum or power unit that is preferably associated with the cart on a relatively “constant” basis.
The present invention addresses these considerations by providing a conventional upright wheeled handcart with a trailing platform that is particularly suited to carry a relatively “constant” load along with the cart without interfering with the use of the conventional temporary lifting platform.